Aoife's Reviews > In the Hope of Memories

I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.

Hope Jackson is dead. But she didn't leave the people she left behind with nothing to not only help deal with their loss but also bring them together as well. Erik, Aiden, Kali and Sam - four completely different people with thing in common, Hope. They all knew her separately and loved her with all their hearts. When she dies, Hope sets them on a scavenger trail to help them deal with different problems in their loves and become friends while doing so. A story of loss, truth and friendship.

First off, anyway who loves Looking for Alaska should read this because this is similar to John Green's story but just done so.much.better!!! This story just captured my heart and didn't let it go and not only that but it's diverse and refreshing AF! Racial stereotypes, other sterotypes, autism, ocd, anorexia, self harm, disability from blindness, mobility and disfigurement and gender fluidity. All in one book! YASSS!

I won't lie Hope definitely suffers from a bit of pixie manic dream girl but we're really only getting the other's perfect memories of her as she was loved so much by them. She did seem pretty great though and it was easy to see how she could be herself but also something a little different with each of them - the teenage girl in love with Erik, the voice of reason with Aiden, the big sister with Kali and the fangirl with Sam.

"It was rare to see Hope not smiling. Even when her lips weren't, her eyes were."

Each character was different in their own way and all dealing with different things. Aiden was a particular joy to read. He had autism and OCD and to see him explain about the different things he did and felt and why we did them, or felt them was really great. We also see a highlight on racial stereotyping with people avoiding the 'black guy in the hoodie.'

"It's always seemed strange that my hoodie makes people feel uncomfortable, because I wear it so I don't have to feel at all. I hate random things touching my skin."

Aiden had such interesting ways to explain his tics such as his obsession with odd and even numbers, particularly the number five. I also loved how counting ended up being a big deal for him at the end of the book AND the number five. It was really cleverly done.

Kali was the one character I didn't really like. She's quite an unlikable character - despite her issues with her biological parents, she doesn't have that much to excuse her behaviour. She's living in a good home with parents who love her. She's beautiful but 'hates' her beauty yet she likes being skinny so is anorexic. I know there's more to anorexia than that and it's more of a control issue but i felt her reasoning contradicted slightly. She's also mean to the others a lot out of spite and she was just one of those characters that takes me a long time to warm up to.

Erik was just a sweetheart. Tall. good-looking and a 'jock' he's battling the stereotype that he's dumb yet he loves reading and is great at memorising quotes from literature. His own issues with telling his parents about his condition was heartbreaking and I totally teared up when he finally spilled the secret.

Sam was particularly great. They go by the 'they' pronoun rather than 'he' or 'she' and seeing the others struggle with this, particularly Erik, was funny and loved how Sam explained it - "I'm just Sam." Sam's dealing with not only being in a wheelchair but also disfigurement in their face and hands but their overall mind-frame is great. I didn't particularly like the format of Sam's chapters which were all computer speech as Sam is a tech genius but it did make it fast to read and I liked Sam's pint of view. Their contrasting issues with Kali was very intriguing - Sam is disfigured because of a tragedy and Kali is disfigured because she does it on purpose - and Sam's honest way of calling Kali out on her BS was fabulous.

"That's how you know if people really matter - when they're not there anymore, it's like part of you isn'y there, either." Sam holds up their scarred hand and laughs wryly. "And let me tell you, it hurts to lose part of yourself."

This story just hooked me in from the very start to the very end when I had tears in my eyes and oh, so many feelings in my chest. I HIGHLY recommend for anyone who a fan of John Green, Nicola Yoon or just some great YA contemporary!